Hair clipper



INVENTO MT5/MLM ATTORNEY S Patented May 2, 1933 EEATNT @FFCE JAMES CORDOVA, 0F YOUNGSTWN, OHIO HAIR CLIPPER Application filed May 2,

My invention relates to improvements in hair clippers with particular reference to the means for regulating the distance between the clipping blade and the surface of the skin from which the hair is being cut.

The primary object of my invention is to provide reliable, efficient and inexpensive means for progressively inter-posing a guard shoe between the relatively stationary and movable shear plates of the clipper and periodically restoring the shoe to a retractive position whereby the clipper may be operated during a series of forward and back movements or strokesin which, during the forward or working stroke, the distance between the scalp and the plane in which shearing is taking place will be progressively 1ncreased, the operator returning the clipper to another beginning point immediately after the shoe retraction occurs.

More specilically stated, it is my object to provide means whereby a hair clipper may be provided with a reciprocable guard shoe, the major portion of which shoe and its associated mechanism may be madeV from stamped sheet metal and the remainder, comprising the springs, may be formed of resilient wire, all of the parts having minimum thickness and offering minimum ob struction to the movements of the clipper for ordinary hand clipping purposes.

In a former Patent No. 1,795,836, granted to me March 10th, 1931, l have disclosed a somewhat similar clipper having a guard shoe provided with a recessed controller plate therein designated in said patent as a fulcrum pla e, and it is a specific object of my invention to reduce the cost ot manufacturing shoe attachments of the type disclosed in said former patent and to facilitate assembly by substituting for the so-called fulcrum plate a less expensive controller plate adapted to be struck up or stamped from snc-et metal and so spaced from. the shearing 1931. Serial No. 534,480.

comb plate as to provide a shallow cavity to receive actuating mechanism of minimum thickness, and thus permit a more closely graduated cut to be obtained than has heretofore been thought to be possible.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a hair clipper to which my invention has been applied.

Figure 2 is a sectional view drawn to line 2-2 ot Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom view with the shoe removed. f

Figure 4 is a bottom view with the control plate also removed.

Figure 5 is a rear end view with the outer portions of the handle broken away.

Figure 6 is a bottom View of the clipper showing fragments of the handles.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

The body of the clipper, with its rigidly connected handle 11, its relatively movable blade operating handle 12, associated movable blade or upper shear plate 13, and relatively stationary comb plate 14, may be of any ordinary construction. In the construction shown, the handle 12 is connected with a hub 16, pivoted to the vertical post 17 underneath the top wall of the body 10, and this hub 16 is provided with an elbowed arm 18, having a down turned free extremity loosely socketed at 19 in a recess or aperture formed in the movable blade 13, whereby the latter may be reciprocated upon the rela-tively stationary comb plate 14, the plates 13 and 14 having ordinary teeth along their front margins which operate as shear teeth.

The stationary blade or comb plate lll is iixedly secured to the body in any suitablemanner preferably by screws 22. lts rear portion le is somewhat thickened relatively to the iront or toothed portion and it has parallel side margins which extend outwardly from the body of the clipper and serve as a guide for a shoe plate 25 with upwardly extending side walls 26 having their upper edges inturned to form flanges 27 engageable over the margins of the portion 14 of the comb plate. The side walls 26 are also provided with intermediate inwardly projecting flanges 29 engageable underneath the margins of said portion 14', the flanges 27 and 29 providing a channel between them at each side, and another set of parallel channels between the flanges 29 and the bottom shoe plate 25. These last mentioned channels receive a control plate 30 which will now be described.

The form of the control plate 30 is best shown in Figure 3. It comprises a ilat plate having a central portion provided with a cam shaped opening 32 of a generally oval form, but with a marginal wall curving inwardly to form an abrupt concave shoulder at 33 from the apex of which the forwardly extending portion of the opening is of less diameter, with walls converging alo-ng curved lines to the point of the oval at 34.

The space between the control plate 30 and the portion 14 of the comb plate is of course equal in the vertical dimension to the thickness of the flanges 29 thereby providing space for a ratchet wheel 35, best shown in Figure 4. This wheel is secured by a pivot screw 36 to the under surface of the portion 14 of the comb plate, in such a position that depending studs 37 on opposite sides of the pivot screw 36 may be received in the cam shaped opening 32 formed in the control plate as aforesaid.

The studs 37 are spaced to fit within the larger transverse diameter of the opening 32 adjacent to the shoulder 33, whereby rotation of the ratchet wheel 35 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 will cause one of the studs to move against the inwardly curving shoulder 33, and push the plate 30 forwardly toward the shear teeth of the comb plate 14. As soon as the actuating stud 37 clears the shoulder 33 the controller plate 30 will be released for a retractive movement. To thus retract the plate 3() a piece of resilient wire 4() has one end portion coiled about retaining studs 41 and 42 on the under side of the comb plate 14, with the other end of the wire extended and engaged with a lip 44 which is preferably struck up from the body of the plate 30, this end portion of the wire therefore serving as a spring arm tending to urge the plate 30 rearwardly. lVhen assembled, the wire is of course held in position between the controller plate 30 and the comb plate 14.

Motion to advance the controller plate 30 in opposition to the pressure of the spring 40 is derived from the blade actuating handle 12 through the movable clipper blade 13, the rear margin of which has a depending pin or arm 46. The upper end of pin 46 is prefcrably threaded into the rear portion of the movable clipper blade 13, and the lower end is connected with a spring actuated dog 47 normally in engagement between the teeth of the ratchet wheel 35, whereby movement of the clipper blade in one direction may be transmitted to rotate the ratchet wheel step by step, each movement of the blade advancing the ratchet wheel a distance equal to the distance between two of its teeth. This rotative movement of the ratchet wheel will of course be transmitted to move the controller plate 30 forwardly to a slight extent while the actuating stud 37 is traveling along the curved approach to the apex of the shoulder 33.

During the reverse movements of the movable clipper blade 13 the ratchet wheel 35 will be held against reverse rotation by a detent 50, preferably comprising one end of a piece of spring wire having an intermediate portion looped about a stud 51 depending from the shear plate 14, and with its other end portion forming an arm 52 having a curved extremity 53 bearing upon the dog 47 to urge the same into engagement between ratchet teeth while allowing it to yieldinglyslide over the ends of such teeth during the retractivc stroke of the clipper blade 13 following an advancing step movement of the ratchet wheel.

The controller plate is secured to the shoe bottom plate 25 preferably by a screw 55 best shown in .Figure 2, and the forward end of this bottom plate 25 is provided with a shoe like member 56 extending downwardly from the forward portion of the member 25 and then forwardly and upwardly along curved lines to the under side of the toothed marginal portion of the comb plate 14, the contacting face of this shoe 56 bearing upon said surface of the plate 14, and movable thereon forwardly and backwa-rdly along the under surface of the comb plate teeth. The rounded bottom of the shoe 15 hears upon the scalp of the person whose hair is being cut and, by retracting the shoe, the points and shearing portions of the comb plate teeth may be brought into close proximity to the scalp, whereas a progressive forward movement of the shoe will increase the distance between the comb plate teeth and the scalp.

With the construction illustrated, it is obvious that in the normal operation of the shoe it will be advanced step by step in accordance with the advancing movement of the controller plate 30 as derived from the working ratchet wheel stud 37. This forward movement will continue until the stud 37 olea-rs the apex of the shoulder 33, whereupon the spring 40 will vincidentally retract theI controller plate and the shoe to a limit of rearward movement determined by the length of the cam shaped opening 32. To limit the retract-ive movement the plate 30 may also have a slot or elongated recess 6i) in which stud 41 engages.

The forward portion of the opening 32 is made eccentric and the margin 61 thereof is inclined at such a pitch that as the working stud 37 travels along its face during the retractive movement, it will rotate the ratchet wheel against the resistance offered by the dogs and 47, both of which will be lifted from between ratchet teeth in order to clear the points of the teeth during such rotation. The other stud 37 is then at shoulder 33.

For hair clipping operations which do not require progressive advancing` movement of the shoe 56 it is desirable to release the ratchet feed mechanism above described, and this is accomplished by a lever pivoted at 66 to the under side of the comb plate 14 with one arm extending rearwardly and provided with an exterior upwardly off-set handle 67. The forwardly extending arm of the lever curves toward the ratchet wheel and has a tapered end portion 68 normally in close proximity to the dog` 47 when the latter is in engagement between ratchet teeth. By swinging the handle 67 in a clockwise direction this arm 68 will engage the dog 47 and push it outwardly against the pressure of its actuating spring, thus preventing the dog from actuating the ratchet. To hold the lever in its normal or inoperative position its upper surface is slightly socketed to receive a detent 70 on the under side of the plate 14, and another detentv 71 may be received in the same socket when the lever is swung to dog retracting position.

The handle 67 of this lever is in close proximity to the working handle 12 `of the clipper whereby the lever may be instantly -adjnsted to either of its two positions without requiring the barber to stop operating the clipper. lnasmuch as the ratchet is held against retractive movement so that it is rotatable in only one direction, it is obvious that by retracting dog 47 at any stage of shoe advancement the shoe will be held fixedly in that position, and therefore hair may be continually clipped at any desired length within the range of possible shoe adjustment.

The shoe may be stamped from sheet met-al or formed from cast metal, its rearportion having side margins up-set as above described, and parallel channels will preferably be milled in the inner surface of these margins, leaving the ribs 27 and 29. The controller plate 30 will preferably be stamped from sheet metal, the cam shaped opening 32 and the slot 60 being cut out with dies, and the ear 44 being formed by a punch. Lever 65, ratchet wheel and dog 47 may also be stamped from sheet metal, each being of a thickness to movably fit within the space between the controller plate 30 and the comb plate rl4, the vertical dimensions of this space being determined by the thickness of the ribs 29. All of the parts may therefore be assembled and accurately fitted together with minimum machine work, the springs being formed to facilitate speedy assembly, and being held in their respective positions under their own tension exercised upon the studs to which they are adjusted and the working' parts which they engage. Retention in their respective positions is` ensured by the confining plates 14 and 30.

Referring to Figure 6 it will be observed that the spacing shoe is provided with a series of longitudinally extending grooves in the portion 56, which extend, entirely through such portion along the forward margin to provide a series of teeth 75, preferably more widely spaced than the teeth of the comb plate and those of the movable blade, but which allow the hair to pass between them to the shearing teeth of said comb and blade when the shoe is in its forward position. lf desired these teeth 7 5 may project beyond the teeth of the comb plate when the shoe is in its more advanced positions.

Spacing shoes made as disclosed in my said former patent were not only machine recessed to receive the actuating ratchet wheel and associated pawls but it was also necessary to provide a cam shaped recess in the case portion of the ratchet receiving recess, into which the shoe actuating studs carried by the ratchet wheel might extend to control the movement of the shoe. To provide shoes having these double recesses involved considerable expense. Also the coiled shoe retracting spring housed in an additional recess formed in the so-called fulcrum plate added to the expense of manufacture considerably whereas the use of the comparatively thin .sheet metal plate 30, .spaced from the comb plate by the ribs 29, enables me to use the single piece of uncoiled wire 40 of no greater thickness than the ratchet wheel. This reduces the thickness of the shoe at the heel and facilitates tilting the clipper over the rocket 56 to progressively graduate the cut independently of shoe advancements.

I claim:

1. The combination with a hair clipper having relatively stationary and movable shear pla-tes, of a spacing` shoe plate movable along the under surface of. the stationary shear plate, an interposed ratchet wheel, a ratchet actuator connected with the movable shear plate, a manually adjustable lever extending rearwardly between the stationary shear plate and the shoe plate into position for engagement by the thumb or finger of the clipper supporting hand of the operator and adapted in one position to hold the ratchet actuator out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, and means for locking the ratchet actuator in retracted position.

2. The combination with a hair clipper, of a spacing shoe adapted to serve as a support- CTI ing base for the clipper' and movable with reference thereto to vary the distance of the working portions of the clipper from the scalp, means associated kwith the clipping mechanism for periodically advancing the shoe in progressive movement separating such working portions from the scalp, and a manually adjustable lever extending rearwardly between the stationary shear plate and the shoe plate into position for engagement by the thumb or finger of the clipper supporting hand of the operator and adapted in one position to prevent further operation of the shoe advancing means at any stage of such advancement, and means for seeur ing said device in such position.

3. The combination with a hair clipper, of a comb plate, a spacing shoe adapted to serve as a supporting base for the clipper and movable with reference to the comb plate, and also provided with a downwardly curved rocking Jfront portion to vary the distance of the working portions of the clipper from the scalp, means associated with the clipping mechanism for periodically advancing the shoe in progressive movements separating lsuch working portions from the scalp, and a manually adjustable device operable between the shoe and the comb plate and adapted in one position to prevent further operation of the shoe advancing means at any stage of such advancement.

4. ln a hair clipper provided with a shea-ring comb plate and a spacing shoe for varying the clipping distances from the scalp, the combination with the shoe, of shoe advancing connections operable from the clipping mechanism to move the shoe progressively in one direction, means for automatically retracting the shoe upon completion of its advancing movement, including manually adjustable means for arresting the advancing movement at any stage thereof, said means including a lever having an exposed finger piece at the rear of the shoe and relatively fixed detent-s for locking the lever in operative and inoperative positions.

5. The combination with a hair clipper, provided with a comb plate having a ratchet wheel rotatively connected with its under surface and flanked by depending studs, a movable clipper blade, a dog operatively connected therewith and engageable with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, a piece of resilient wire looped about one of said studs with one end also engageable with the teeth of the ratchet wheel and operable as a detent, the other end of said wire bearing upon the dog to urge it into engagement with the ratchet wheel, a shoe spaced from the comb plate for accommodation of the ratchet wheel, said shoe being slidably connected with the comb plate and having a portion extending underneath the ratchet wheel, and another piece of spring wire looped about some of the depending studs on the comb plate with one end operatively connected with the shoe to urge the same to a retracted position, and means connected with the ratchet wheel for progressively advancing the shoe in opposition to said spring, said ratchet wheel, springs, and dog being disposed in substantially the same plane between the shoe and the shear plate.

6. In aspacing shoe attachment for a hair clipper, a shoe plate provided with up-set margins, each having a pair of longitudinal channels separated by an intermediate rib, a controller plate in the lower channel provided with a cam shaped slot, a comb plate having margins engaged in the upper channel, and ratchet mechanism located between the intermediate ribs on the respective margins of the shoe plate and held in position by projections on one of the plates and the opposing surfaces of the plates.

7. In a spacing shoe attachment for a hair clipper, a shoe plate provided with up-set margins, each having a pair of longitudinal channels separated by an intermediate rib, a controller plate in the lower channel provided with a cam shaped slot, a comb plate having margins engaged in the upper channel, and ratchet mechanism located between the intermediate ribs on the respective margins of the shoe plate and held in position by projections on one of the plates and the opposing surfaces of the plates, said mechanism comprising pieces of stamped sheet metal and of wire formed to fit said space with substantially all the members in a common plane.

8. A hair clipper having a shearing comb plate in combination with a spacing shoe having marginal guide members provided with upwardly extending sides each having a plurality of inwardly extending ribs, adapted to receive the margins of the shearing comb plate between them, a controller plate having side margins engaged underneath the lower ribs and provided with a cam shaped aperture, and shoe advancing means located between the inner spacing ribs.

9. A hair clipper attachment comprising the combina-tion of a shoe having side margins each provided with a plurality of inwardly extending ribs adapted to engage and slide along the side margins of the shearing comb plate of a clipper, a controller plate having side margins disposed underneath the lower rib and vprovided with a cam shaped aperture, actuating mechanism located bctween the lower ribs and including a rotary member provided with studs engaging in the cam shaped aperture to position the shoe in various positions during a clipping operation.

10. The combination with the shearing comb plate of a hair clipper, of a. ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on the under-surface of said plate, a movable clipper blade provided with a ratchet actuating dog n0rmally engageable with the teeth of said ratchet wheel, a spacing shoe having side flanges provided with a plurality of inwardly projecting ribs adapted to receive the side margins of the shearing comb plate between them, said ratchet Wheel and actuating dog being receivable in the space between the inner ribs, a controller plate mounted in the shoe below said inner ribs and provided with a cam shaped recess and a pair of studs connected with the ratchet wheel in a position to engage in the cam shaped recess to move the shoe to various positions of adjustment along the shearing comb plate during rotation of the ratchet wheel.

JAMES CORDOVA. 

